


Bouquet (Hanataba)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dialogue, F/M, Humor, Meddling Friends, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 04:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15187010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Irisviel threw her bouquet in Arturia’s face. Gilgamesh caught the garter.





	Bouquet (Hanataba)

**Author's Note:**

> Before posting the continuations of Magia and TTB, I wanted something a bit more light-hearted... hope you enjoy!
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, part of the album 'Consolation' ;)

…

…

Arturia hadn’t planned it, and she certainly hadn’t wanted it either. But for being such a fragile-looking woman, Irisviel could certainly have surprising strength.

Or, to be more precise, there were certain occasions – occasions that Arturia was evidently never going to be able to foresee – in which Irisviel suddenly decided that no one was going to stop her, and indeed, no one managed to.

Arturia stared at the beautiful ensemble of white roses, lilies and peonies that was now in her arms. Irisviel’s wedding bouquet had been thrown with quite a bit of strength in the precise direction of her face, and to prevent it from smashing against it, she had reflexively caught it.

She was starting to regret not having simply hit it with a blow to make it deflect its course instead.

Irisviel was beaming at her from the other side of the room, incredible excitement and just a hint of satisfaction radiating off her wide smile. Next to her, Kiritsugu was indifferent towards Arturia as usual – nothing surprising there – and was solely focused on the happy face of the woman he had just married. The other guests were staring at Arturia with a mix of envy, irritation and awe…

…and then there was Gilgamesh.

He was standing in front of her, an expression full of distaste on his face as he held the garter Kiritsugu had carelessly – or maybe not so carelessly after all – flung away just a few moments before Irisviel had taken aim with the bouquet.

Arturia may not have planned this, but it was doubtless that Irisviel had.

When Gilgamesh’s gaze moved away from the couple he was glaring at to land on her, his crimson eyes gleamed when he saw that she was holding the bouquet. Had she not been morosely contemplating her impending demise, Arturia would have been impressed by the amount of smugness he was capable of infusing in his smirk.

Her own expression was carefully dispassionate, while she mentally considered how to pay back Irisviel for forcing her into such a situation. It was going to be hard to pull off, since she was Irisviel’s former bodyguard _and_ current best friend.

Any plan for revenge was however going to have to wait, because she needed to deal with her present predicament first. Gilgamesh had already extended his hand towards her, looking at her expectantly.

Grudgingly, she took it, knowing that it would have been extremely impolite to refuse; even though she was inwardly fuming at her, Arturia wouldn’t behave rudely at Irisviel’s wedding.

As difficult as it was, she still tried to keep as much distance as possible between Gilgamesh’s body and herself when the first song began and they had to open the dances a few seconds before everyone else joined them. She also firmly kept her eyes on his shoulder, not looking up at his face in spite of the insistent sensation of him staring at her.

She hoped it was going to be enough to discourage him from addressing her since, if they started to talk, it was sure to end in a quarrel. He had a way of getting under her skin that she had quickly learned to be wary of.

However, she also knew him well enough to be fully aware of the fact that it was unlikely that her hopes would become reality. His arm, surrounding her waist, held her a little more tightly as he leaned close to her cheek.

“Are you afraid to look at me?”

Gilgamesh’s voice was low, confident and with something dark in the tone with which he delivered those words; but most importantly, it produced the desired effect, because Arturia lifted her chin and her green eyes immediately stared straight into his crimson ones.

One sentence from him, and she had already fallen into his trap. She almost wished she could slap herself for her immaturity, an annoyed frown appearing on her features at the thought.

His smirk widened as he firmly held her gaze and kept dancing with her without any apparent effort, their bodies close, their faces even closer.

“Ah, but of course, you aren’t afraid. It’s your stubbornness.”

Arturia glared at him, but he didn’t seem fazed by it, therefore she finally decided to reply.

“I believe it’s _your_ stubbornness, not mine, that is playing a role here. If you weren’t so determined to start a conversation with me, we could have spent this unneeded dance in silence and this scheme of Irisviel’s would have ended without too much fuss.” She scowled at him. “You prefer however to force a reaction out of me instead, knowing perfectly well that it will end in an argument.”

His expression seemed to become strangely thoughtful at her words, and he contemplated her silently for a few seconds.

Then he suddenly questioned, “I don’t believe I ever had an argument with you, Arturia, therefore why do you claim we would end up having one?”

She stared at him, feeling incredulity fill her. Was he serious?

“How else would you call every single exchange we had in the past, Gilgamesh, in which we didn’t manage to agree on _anything_?”

“I would call them _conversations_ , Arturia,” he replied, as if it was completely obvious. “And I fully intend to take advantage of this dance to have another conversation with you.”

Arturia opened and closed her mouth, considering his blunt statement carefully.

“I refuse,” she then said flatly after a few moments of silence.

But his smirk was back in place, and he looked extremely pleased.

“You see my point, Arturia? _This_ is a conversation.”

She gaped at him, astonished. He seemed convinced that disagreeing with him was something that constituted a conversation, and since she almost never agreed with him, he delighted in ‘talking’ to her.

She couldn’t help shaking her head.

“Your life must be dull indeed, Gilgamesh, if you need to entertain yourself by quarrelling with me,” she commented dryly.

“ _Ta_ _lking_ with you,” he rectified smoothly, unperturbed by her tone. His gaze sharpened slightly. “I happen to find you more than just entertainment, Arturia.”

“That’s charming.” She didn’t even lift an eyebrow, completely unimpressed.

His crimson eyes didn’t conceal his amusement, telling her that he was plainly enjoying himself.

“Quite,” he agreed, not letting her comment steer him away from the subject of the ‘conversation’. “But if what I wanted was simply entertainment, there would be countless ways of achieving such a goal.”

His hold around her waist tightened suddenly as he made them take a turn to avoid an overenthusiastic couple that was clearly a bit too tipsy.

He continued as if nothing had happened. “You are too interesting to be reduced to being only an ‘entertainment’.”

This time, she did lift an eyebrow. It was strange for someone as blunt as him to be so vague.

“Get to the point, Gilgamesh,” she hissed, starting to wonder how long the dance was going to last.

“But I already have,” he said enigmatically, only to chuckle at the dark look she gave him. “You can only truly determine whether these are conversations or arguments by having more of them with me,” he then pointed out.

She eyed him with some wariness, her thoughts about the dance leaving her mind as she attempted to figure out this strange new development, provided she had understood him correctly.

Well, there was no better way than to question him about it.

“Are you asking me out?” she probed, her green eyes narrowed as they searched his crimson ones intently.

His expression was however undecipherable now, and a mysterious smile appeared on his lips.

“That depends on your answer, Arturia.”

She mulled over his words. In spite of his odd reply, she knew that she wasn’t mistaken: he had indeed asked her out. And if that was the case, courtesy demanded that she give him at least an answer.

She couldn’t particularly claim that she looked forward to any interaction with Gilgamesh; in fact, it was the opposite, since every time she met him she needed to be on her guard and consider her words carefully because he was fully capable of using them against her.

At the same time, such _conversations_ were also extremely challenging and actually interesting.

She could try to go out with him once or twice; if she got too much of a headache, she would simply walk away. Nothing had to come out of it, after all, as there were no expectations she had to fulfil. And by choosing herself when and where to see Gilgamesh, she would make sure that Irisviel – as much as her interference was mostly kindly meant – would no longer be able to try to push her into other situations against her will.

Another thing she hadn’t considered was the fact that, if she accepted to go on a date with him, she would be agreeing with him for the first time. The thought almost made her curve her lips upwards in amusement.

If she could smile about the thought of spending more time with Gilgamesh, it meant that her decision might be the right one after all.

“Very well then. I accept,” she said, her eyes meeting his firmly.

To her surprise, after regarding her calmly and studying her expression for a while, he chuckled again, but this time with unexpected warmth.

“As much as I honestly enjoy it when you disagree with me, Arturia, I can’t claim I dislike it when you sometimes do agree with me.”

Something strangely earnest flashed through his eyes, and a true, small smile appeared on his face. “Indeed, I don’t dislike it _at all_.”

…

…


End file.
